


Feedback Loop

by sarahsharpe1231



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-08 01:32:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6833365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahsharpe1231/pseuds/sarahsharpe1231
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry meets someone else in the Speed Force and learns some very valuable information. (Missing scene from 2x21.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feedback Loop

**Author's Note:**

> BECAUSE CISCO NEEDED A SPEED FORCE COUNTERPART, GODDAMMIT!!! (All you fellow Barrisco/Flashvibe shippers--you KNOW how important these boys are to each other.)
> 
> Set between Barry's conversations with Iris and Henry...right after he turns away from Cisco. NEEDED him to say something about his decision to do that because the devastated expression on Cisco's face after he watched Barry choose his speed over him BROKE MY HEART.
> 
> The costume's obviously the New 52 version and the revelation Barry has is something I'm PRAYING will happen in the season finale! Carlos thankfully did say in several interviews before "Rupture" aired that Cisco's powers will be pivotal in stopping Zoom so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
> 
> Finally, I do realize that this is way more about Cisco than it is about Barry and the entire episode was basically a Barry Allen character study (which as a fanfic writer, I SO appreciated). HOWEVER, the entire episode, Barry's telling everyone that he needs to get his speed back and go back home to stop Zoom so I figured he should've talked to someone who could tell him exactly how to defeat that monster. Who would know better that Cisco has the power to sever a speedster's connection to the Speed Force than the Speed Force itself...? ;)
> 
> PS: I just have to say that it was an EXTREMELY cool experience writing the freaking SPEED FORCE as a character. "The Runaway Dinosaur" was truly a brilliant episode. :)

Barry had chased the shadow into S.T.A.R. Labs. He was hesitant as he walked into the cortex. He was there everyday but something about the Speed Force’s manifestation of it just felt way too eerie for his liking. Where his suit would normally be on the mannequin, a figure stood. It was shrouded in shadows except for two circles of gold that glowed over the eyes. Despite the color, the design looked strangely similar to a pair of goggles Barry could instantly recognize.

“Cisco…?” Barry asked knowing full-well that the person wasn’t actually going to be Cisco.

The man stepped forward into the light. It _was_ Cisco…but he was wearing some sort of costume: a black tight-fitting shirt accented with a red and gold design, a black diamond-quilted vest (similar to the style of the jacket Reverb had been wearing when they met), black fingerless gloves, and black pants and boots that had a red line running down them. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen Cisco wear…except for the gold hood that fell down behind the vest.

“What is this?” Barry asked. “Some kind of cosplay he made before I met him?”

“No,” the Speed Force said with a small smile on its face. “This is Vibe.”

The smug expression Barry had instantly fell and his eyes widened in complete disbelief.

“Why am I meeting Vibe?” Barry asked.

“Because you saved his life the first time you traveled back in time,” it said. “Because you helped awaken his powers. Because you made him realize that the gifts _he’d_ been given weren’t going to turn him into something he’s not…but only amplify what he already was…a hero—not dissimilar to The Flash. If there’s anyone whose life has changed the most because you’re The Flash…it’s his.”

“He’s my best friend,” Barry said. “I’d do anything for him.”

“Of course you would,” the Speed Force said. “Do you remember a year ago when you made a promise to him that you would always find each other?”

“Yeah,” Barry responded.

“He found you,” it said. “He wanted to bring you home…but you turned away.”

“Because I wasn’t going back home without my powers,” Barry said matter-of-factly.

“Why?” the Speed Force asked. “Do you not care about your friends and family? Do you not want them to know that you’re alive and safe?”

“No, that’s _why_ I’m not going home without my speed,” Barry yelled. “Because I care too much about them—and my entire city—to see them all die at the hands of Zoom! …When my dad got out of Iron Heights, he told me that the world doesn’t need me to be Henry Allen’s son. It needs me to be The Flash. That’s never been more true than at this moment. I need my powers back.”

“Barry,” the Speed Force said after a moment of silence, “do you realize that you and Cisco share a connection?”

“What are you talking about?” Barry asked.

“When you got to Earth-2, both of your powers were greatly diminished,” it said. “Do you know of any other metahuman that would happen to?”

Barry scrunched his eyebrows, still not understanding.

“Barry, you’re both vibrational beings,” the Speed Force continued. “You’re both incredibly connected to your universe and to each other. You can both open up breaches to other worlds. You just saw him enter the Speed Force and he’s not even a speedster. Just like you, he can do great things. You saw what Reverb was capable of. _Your_ Cisco can do that and so much more.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Barry asked.

“Despite the fact the we’ll never go away, the Speed Force _is_ constantly under threat,” it said. “No more so than when we’re in the presence of Vibe himself.”

“How come?” Barry prodded.

“Because he has the ability to sever a speedster’s connection to the Speed Force,” it replied.

A lightbulb went off in Barry’s head.

“He can stop Zoom,” he whispered.

The embodiment of Cisco nodded.

“But he can’t do it alone,” the Speed Force said. “He needs The Flash…just as much as you need him.”

The black shadow passed by in the hallway behind Barry.

“Your father said the world needs you to be The Flash,” it continued. “He’s not wrong.”

It titled its head toward the direction the shadow went. Barry understood and turned around, continuing to chase after the power he so desperately wanted back.


End file.
